Monday, September 6, 2010

Strip


England have returned to the traditional all-white shirts, white shorts with navy and white socks. (The emblem on the shirts is a red rose, rather than the Plantagenet Three Lions displayed on the shirts of the England football and England cricket teams. The strip is manufactured by Nike and O2 is the shirt sponsor. Red was the change strip, although prior to the introduction of the red strip, navy blue was used. Purple was used as the change strip as of the 2009 autumn internationals, reflecting the traditional colour of the original England track-suits from the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) had created the national side's emblem prior to an English team being sent to Edinburgh to play a Scottish side. A red rose was chosen to be the side’s emblem. The white kit worn by the national team was taken from the kit used at Rugby School. Alfred Wright, an employee of the Rugby Football Union, is credited with the standardisation and new design of the rose, which up until 1920 had undergone many variations in its depiction. The Wright design is thought to have been used without minor alteration until the late 1990s. It was not until 1997 that the rose was modernised when Nike became the official strip supplier.

In 2003 England first used a skin-tight strip. This was intended to make it more difficult for the opposition to grasp the shirt when tackling. The home and away strips for 2007 were unveiled on 15 May that year. The materials used are superior, offering improved performance to the 2003 kit. However, a sweeping red mark on the base-white front which forms St George's Cross on the top left, and a changed away-strip (dark blue to red), have received criticism because it is felt that emphasis has been placed on St George's Cross at the expense of the traditional red rose. The new strip was introduced in England's home game against Wales on 4 August, while the alternative strip was first used against France on 18 August.

The current england home strip is white with a strip of red around the neck, and the away strip for the first time is purple, both kits have a ground breaking new technology in the form of a gripper print. A special strip was worn during the match versus Wales in the 2010 Six Nations Championship which replicated that worn in 1910 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Twickenham.

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Swing Low, Sweet Chariot



Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is very commonly sung at England fixtures — especially at Twickenham. The song arrived in the rugby canon through the Welsh male voice choirs who sang many spirituals. It was a popular rugby song at clubs during the 1950s and 1960s and was sung every year at Twickenham during the end-of-season all-day Middlesex Sevens tournament. During the 1970s the Twickenham crowd also sang it during England matches then coming into the last match of the 1988 season, against the Irish, England had lost 15 of their previous 23 matches in the Five Nations Championship. The Twickenham crowd had only seen one solitary England try in the previous two years and at half time against Ireland they were 0-3 down. During the second half a remarkable transformation took place and England started playing an expansive game many had doubted they were capable of producing. A 0-3 deficit was turned into a 35-3 win, with England scoring six tries.
In the 35-3 win, three of England's tries were scored by Chris Oti, a player who had made a reputation for himself that season as a speedster on the left wing. A group of boys from the Benedictine school Douai following a tradition at their school games sang Swing Low, Sweet Chariot whenever a try was scored. When Oti scored his second try, amused spectators standing close to the boys joined in, and when Oti scored his hat-trick the song was heard around the ground. Since then Swing Low, Sweet Chariot became a song to sing at England home games, in the same way that Fields of Athenry is sung in Dublin and Cwm Rhondda is sung at Cardiff. It has since became the anthem of the team as in 1991 the result of a plan of the then RFU marketing director Mike Coley for the team to launch a song leading up to that years Rugby World cup. He had wanted to use Jerusalem but it was used in the Rugby League cup final that year so the song was changed at short notice to Swing Low. there were a number of versions recorded including a 'rap' version with Jerry Guscott doing a solo. needless to say that was never released but the version released did reach the top 40 in the UK singles chart during the competition and was then adopted as the England rugby song.
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Saturday, September 4, 2010

Twickenham



Up until 1910, the English rugby team used various stadia in a number of venues around England before settling at Twickenham Stadium. After sell-out matches at Crystal Palace in 1905 and 1906 against New Zealand and South Africa respectively, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) decided to invest in their own ground. In 1906, the RFU arranged for William Williams to find a home ground for English Rugby. The land for the ground was purchased the following year for £5,572 12s and 6d, and construction began the following year.
The first England match was held on 9 October 1910 between England and Wales. England ran out winners, 11–6, beating Wales for the first time since 1898. The stadium was expanded in 1927 and again in 1932. Further upgrades did not happen until the 1990s when new North, East and West stands were built. A new South stand was built in 2005 and 2006 to make the stadium into a complete bowl. The first match to be played at the redeveloped Twickenham was on Sunday 5 November 2006 against the All Blacks. England lost the match 20–41 in front of a record crowd of 82,076.
Although England have played home matches almost exclusively at Twickenham since 1910, they have played at Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium twice in 1998, at Old Trafford against New Zealand in 1997 and at Wembley Stadium against Canada in 1992. In addition, they also played the first of a two-test series against Argentina at Old Trafford in June 2009, a match originally scheduled to be held in Argentina but moved by the country's national federation for financial reasons.
After reconstruction was completed in 2006, Twickenham is now widely regarded as one of the finest stadiums in the world.
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Friday, September 3, 2010

history....


The next year, England completed another Grand Slam and did not lose that year, including a victory over the Springboks. In the lead up to the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, England completed another Grand Slam - their third in five years. In the World Cup, England defeated Argentina, Italy and Samoa in pool play and then defeated Australia 25–22 in their quarter-final. England's semi-final was dominated by the All Blacks and featured four tries, now worth five points each, by Jonah Lomu; England lost 45–29. They then lost the third/fourth place play-off match against France.
In 1997, Clive Woodward became England's coach. That year, England drew with New Zealand at Twickenham after being heavily defeated in Manchester the week before. England toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in 1998. Many of the England team made themselves unavailable for the tour nicknamed the "tour from hell" where England suffered a record 76–0 defeat to the Wallabies. In 1999 during the last ever Five Nations match, Scott Gibbs sliced through six English tackles to score in the last minute, and the last ever Five Nations title went to Scotland.
England commenced the new decade by winning the inaugural Six Nations title. In 2001, Ireland defeated England 20–14 in a postponed match at Lansdowne Road to deny them a Grand Slam. Although the 2002 Six Nations Championship title was won by France, England had the consolation of winning the Triple Crown. In 2002, England defeated Argentina in Buenos Aires, and then the All Blacks, Australia, and South Africa at Twickenham. In 2003, England won the Grand Slam for the first time since 1995, followed by wins over Australia and the All Blacks in June.
Going into the 2003 World Cup, England were one of the tournament favourites. They reached the final on 22 November 2003 against Australia and became World champions after a match-winning drop goal by Jonny Wilkinson in extra time that made the final score 20–17. On 8 December, the English team greeted 750,000 supporters on their victory parade through London before meeting Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

The England national rugby union squad in a drill, during training for the 2007 Rugby World Cup at the University of Bath training ground.
In the 2004 Six Nations Championship, England lost to both France and Ireland and finished third. Sir Clive Woodward resigned on 2 September and Andy Robinson was appointed England head coach. Robinson's first Six Nations campaign in 2005 resulted in fourth place for England, and although they then defeated Australia 26–16, the year was completed with a 23–19 loss to the All Blacks.
Following their loss to South Africa in the 2006 end of year Tests, England had lost eight of their last nine Tests — their worst ever losing streak. Coach Andy Robinson resigned after this run, and attack coach Brian Ashton was appointed head coach in December 2006. England started the 2007 Six Nations Championship with a Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland. The championship also included a historic match at Croke Park against Ireland which England lost 43–13, their heaviest ever defeat to Ireland.
In the 2007 World Cup England played in Pool A with Samoa, Tonga, South Africa and the United States. They qualified for the quarter finals after losing embarrassingly to South Africa 36-0 where they defeated Australia 12–10, and then faced hosts France in their semi final. England won 14–9 to qualify for the final against South Africa, which they lost 15-6. England followed up the World Cup with two consecutive 2nd place finishes in the Six Nations, behind Wales and Ireland respectively. The 2009 Six Nations also saw Martin Johnson take up the job of Head Coach.
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history.


The year 1909 saw the opening of Twickenham as the RFU's new home, which heralded a golden era for English rugby union. England's first international at Twickenham brought them victory over Wales, and England went on to win the International Championship (then known as the Five Nations) for the first time since the great schism of 1895. Although England did not retain the title in 1911, they did share it in 1912. A Five Nations Grand Slam was then achieved in 1913 and 1914 as well as in 1921 following the First World War. England subsequently won the Grand Slam in 1924 and as well as in 1925. This was despite having started 1925 with a loss to the All Black Invincibles in front of 60,000 fans at Twickenham.

After winning another Grand Slam in 1928, England played the Springboks in front of 70,000 spectators at Twickenham in 1931. Following the ejection of France due to professionalism in 1930, which thus reverted The Five Nations back to the Home Nations tournament, England went on to win the 1934 and 1937 Home Nations with a Triple Crown and in 1935 achieved their first victory over the All Blacks.

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When the Five Nations resumed with the re-admission of France in 1947 after the Second World War, England shared the championship with Wales. The early Five Nations competitions of the 1950s were unsuccessful for England, winning one match in the 1950 and 1951 championships. England won the 1953 Five Nations, and followed this up with a Grand Slam in 1957, and win in 1958. England broke France's four-championship streak by winning the 1963 Championship. After this victory, England played three Tests in the Southern Hemisphere and lost all three: 21–11 and 9–6 against the All Blacks, and 18–9 against Australia. England did not win a single match in 1966, and managed only a draw with Ireland. They did not win another Championship that decade.

Don White was appointed as England's first-ever coach in 1969. According to former Northampton player Bob Taylor, "Don was chosen because he was the most forward-thinking coach in England".His first match in charge was an 11–8 victory over South Africa at Twickenham in 1969. Of the eleven games England played with White in charge they won three, and drew one and lost seven. He resigned as England coach in 1971.

England had wins against Southern Hemisphere teams in the 1970s; with victories over South Africa in 1972, New Zealand in 1973 and Australia in 1976. The 1972 Five Nations Championship was not completed due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland when Scotland and Wales refused to play their Five Nations away fixtures in Ireland. England played in Dublin in 1973 and were given a standing ovation lasting five minutes. After losing 18–9 at Lansdowne Road, the England captain, John Pullin famously stated, "We might not be very good but at least we turned up."

England started the following decade with a Grand Slam victory in the 1980 Five Nations - their first for 23 years. However in the 1983 Five Nations Championship, England failed to win a game and picked up the wooden spoon. In the first Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, England were grouped in pool A alongside Australia, Japan and the United States. England lost their first game 19–6 against Australia. They went on to defeat Japan and the United States, and met Wales in their quarter-final, losing the match 16–3.

In 1989, England won matches against Romania and Fiji, followed by victories in their first three Five Nations games of 1990. They lost to Scotland in their last game however, giving Scotland a Grand Slam. England recovered in the following year by winning their first Grand Slam since 1980. England hosted the 1991 World Cup and were in pool A, along with the All Blacks, Italy and the United States. Although they lost to the All Blacks in pool play, they qualified for a quarter-final going on to defeat France 19–10. England then defeated Scotland 9–6 to secure a place in the final against Australia which they lost 12–6.

History


England before they played in the first international; versus Scotland in Edinburgh, 1871.
The expansion of rugby in the first half of the 19th century was driven by ex-pupils from many of England's Public Schools, especially Rugby, who, upon finishing school, took the game with them to universities, to London, and to the counties. England's first international match was against Scotland on Monday 27 March 1871. Not only was this match England's first, but it also proved to be the first ever rugby union international. Scotland won the match by a goal and a try to a try, in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872 which saw England defeat Scotland by a goal, a drop goal and two tries to one drop goal. In those early days there was no points system, it was only after 1890 that a format allowing the introduction of a points system was provided. Up until 1875 international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored (conversions and dropped goals), but from 1876 the number of tries scored could be used to decide a match if teams were level on goals.
In 1875, England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil; the match was Ireland's first ever Test. England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup.[14][15] Their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardson's Field in Blackheath. England recorded their largest victory, defeating the Welsh by seven goals, six tries, and one drop goal to nil and scoring 13 tries in the process. The subsequent meeting the following year at St Helens in Swansea was a closer contest; with England winning by two goals and four tries to nil Two years later, the first Home Nations championship was held and England emerged as the inaugural winners. In 1889, England played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives by one goal and four tries to nil at Rectory Field in Blackheath. In 1890 England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland.
England first played New Zealand (the All Blacks) in 1905. The All Blacks scored five tries, worth three points at this time, to win 15–0. The following year, they played France for the first time, and later that year they first faced South Africa (known as the Springboks); James Peters was withdrawn from the England squad after the South Africans objected to playing against a black player. The match was drawn 3–3. England first played France in 1907, and Australia (known as the Wallabies) in 1909 when they were defeated 3–9.

England versus New Zealand's Original All Blacks in 1905; the All Blacks won 15–0.
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England national rugby union team


The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 25 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in the tournaments history. England also compete for the Calcutta Cup with Scotland as part of the Six Nations. They are ranked sixth in the world by the International Rugby Board as of 21 June 2010. England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 and finished runners-up in 1991 and 2007.

The history of the team extends back to 1871 when the English rugby team played their first official Test match, losing to Scotland by one try. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship (now the Six Nations) which started in 1883. Following the schism of rugby football in 1895, England did not win the Championship again until 1910. England first played against New Zealand in 1905, South Africa in 1906, and Australia in 1909. England was one of the teams invited to take part in the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and went on to appear in the final in the second cup in 1991 only to be defeated by Australia. Following their 2003 Six Nations Grand Slam, England won that year's World Cup — beating Australia 20–17 in extra time. They also contested the final in 2007 but finished as runners up, losing 15–6 to South Africa. England players traditionally wear white shorts, navy socks (although they are now white and red) with white tops, and a white shirt with a red rose embroidered on it, and for the first time in the English rugby team's history, their away shirt is red (up until recently, navy blue has been the traditional colour). Their home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910. The team is administered by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). Four former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

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